Review of HP Mini 1115NR 8.9-Inch Netbook
We recently ran a ‘Mini’ laptop through a series of tests. ‘Minis’ are a new line of laptops which are ultra-small and ultra-portable. With an LCD ~ 9″ & a weight around 2 pounds, they sure are small & light, but there are some disadvantages, too. Sony has been making them for years but HP, Gateway & Dell are newer to the market.
Begin Review: Hunter,
I’m writing this to you on the HP mini. In Word. Which isn’t so bad.
The keyboard is a decent size, but I still hit the wrong key often even with my fingers. I feel bad for anyone reasonably larger than I am trying to use this.
It’s a little slow, especially installing software. The web loads ok, but stuff like scrolling on a webpage with images is choppy. And as far as images go, forget about it on this tiny screen. Very few of them fit, most take at least 150% of the screen height to see all at once.
I’m not sure why it seems slow with 1GB of RAM, though.
The System comes out of standby pretty quick, and programs launch well, perhaps even slightly quicker than on a new laptop. The system is pretty quiet and surprisingly cool. Even after an hour or so of use it is comfortable to the touch, a vast improvement over modern laptops that will cook your legs if you’re not paying attention.
The touchpad is annoyingly small, but I could get over that if it weren’t for poor gesture recognition and horrid placement of the mouse buttons.
When I try to use the scroll on the side of the touchpad, I get random strange effects. Sometimes it jumps to the top of the page. Sometimes nothing happens (which I assume means I’m not using enough pressure). Sometimes it registers as a click. On occasion, it scrolls.
The mouse buttons are on the sides of the touchpad. Whomever thought that was a good idea should be overrun by a herd of buffalo. The right button I can get used to, as after I’ve brought up a context menu I’ll be looking for the option I’d like to click on.
The left mouse button, however, is driving me mad. I generally use my thumb to click on laptops, and my index finger on the touchpad. This is not possible with this setup. Sure, I can “tap” on the pad to click, but I get the same (albeit slightly better) results as the scroll gesture. What about dragging icons, and all that stuff? That takes two hands now, where it used to take one. That’s 100% less efficient, because they moved a button. They should have this stuff figured out by now.
It doesn’t have separate buttons for Home, End, PgUp, or PgDn. They are accessible through Fn+Arrow Keys, which I’ve found while typing this up to be a meager, and sometimes frustrating, consolation for the usability I’m accustomed to. Again, these are all, I’m sure, minor complaints. But complaints nonetheless.
Also, they seem really light and flimsy, and they ARE very small. I know these are selling points, and features, and all, but not for children. They are selling points for business men who need their email but still worry about TSA’s guidelines and fly so often that checking any baggage is an extremely added hassle. Or for IT consultant’s who need a laptop that they know works and they can carry around with them into server rooms and plug into a router to do some config without having to set up a desk. Kids need something to spill drinks on, or knock off a desk when they spin around to see who shot them with a spit-ball.
Here are my grades.
As a Desktop replacement: C-
As a Low-cost laptop: C+
As a glorified PDA: A- (but only if you refuse to get an iPhone )
As an Educational Tool: C-
